Elia Ware

Elia Ware (8 December 1911 - 10 October 1987) was a Torres Strait Islander man who served in World War II as a part of the Torres Strait Light Infantry Battalion where, as a First Nations soldier, he received significantly less pay then non-First Nations soldiers. Early life Ware was born on Moa Island in the Torres Strait and was one of six children of Alfred Aviu Pigin Ware and Gaiba Petrie. He was born at the community of Wag which had first been settled by his family, including Uruba Demag, in the early 1900s. He was a part of the Panai clan and his totem was dangal, the dugong, which guided much of his life.

Throughout his early life Ware was employed as a seaman and labourer and one of the major jobs he undertook as a labourer was building roads on Waiben.

As a First Nations man, Ware received only one-third of the pay of non-First Nations soldiers and, because of this, he and many of the men struck in December 1943. From their strike they were successful in having their wages increased to two-thirds of the 'standard' rate, however, this pay was given to the Chief Protector of Aboriginals and was then held in a trust account for them. This meant Ware, and the other men, did not have access to it and, any use of it, required permission to be given.

In the 1960s Ware also met with various politicians and policy makers regarding his underpayment during his war service and, notably, met with the then Prime Minister Robert Menzies about this issue. Included in his complaint was that, as a Torres Strait Islander serviceman, he did not receive the same post-war benefits of other soldiers including access to war service homes. Ware also asked Menzies to call a referendum to eliminate the clauses preventing the Australian government from making laws for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

In 1970 Ware and his brother Bobby purchased the Coral Pearl, a prawn trawler, the fish for trochus (sea snail) in the reefs off the coast of Cairns. She has used her art to explore her fathers World War II service including in the creation of Torres Strait Light Infantry Battalion, a three paneled textile work which interweaves images of her family, military history and the Torres Strait more generally.